Mike Whaley: Juggling act keeps Keefe on his toes

Monday

Jan 14, 2013 at 3:15 AM

Jamie Keefe is a life-long baseball man who can now add juggling to his resume.

The 39-year-old Rochester native, who was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates back in 1992, has been back in the Seacoast area the past three or four months. He has a new job (three of them, actually) and is currently juggling the three as he settles into the new year.

Keefe’s current positions include Director of Operations for the Seacoast Mavericks, assistant coach for the UMass-Lowell NCAA Division II baseball team and manager of the Rockland (N.Y.) Boulders of the independent CanAm League.

“It’s going to be a busy schedule,” said Keefe, who will see as many as 160 games on the field this year. “I’ve got my hands in everything.”

Keefe had spent the past three seasons in Pittsfield, Mass., last year as the coach of the Suns, a team in the Futures Collegiate Baseball League (FCBL), the same league that the Mavericks also play in. The previous two years were spent managing Pittsfield’s entry in the CanAm League, but the team ran into financial problems and was dropped from the league. Keefe helped a group that has partial ownership in the New York Yankees (and owns five minor league teams outright) get the Suns started and was asked to manage the team in 2012.

Keefe’s ultimate decision to move on was family related. His two sons live in Marblehead, Mass., with his ex-wife, and the three-hour drive every week was just too far for Keefe.

“It just got to be too much,” he said. “That was the deciding factor.”

The opportunity opened up at Lowell and Keefe knew it would bring him closer to his boys: Brigham, 11, and Brooks, 7.

He called Dave Hoyt, the principal owner in the Mavericks and another Rochester guy, and knowing they were making the move to Portsmouth from Rochester offered his services.

“Growing up in the area, you always want to see a minor league team,” Keefe said. “That’s the way we’re treating it as a minor league team.”

Keefe spent nine years as a player in the minor leagues, rising as high as Triple A Las Vegas in 1997, and has been a manager every year but one since 2001.

This past summer he managed the Suns in Rochester at Bert George Field against the Mavericks, the first time he’d been back to his old high school and Legion baseball park in 20 years.

“It was just awesome,” Keefe said. “I knew (how it would) help my infielders because I know every hop and every bounce and where they go.”

Keefe feels the move to Portsmouth is a good one because it brings the team closer to the Seacoast.

“I look forward to continuing to help them,” he said. “It’s great for the Futures League. It’s bringing bigger teams into the league. It’s great.”

Keefe said the FCBL is at nine teams now, but is hoping for a 10th.

“The NECBL (New England Collegiate Baseball League) has done well for years, but now they know they’ve got some stiff competition,” he added. “We’re pretty excited to be that competition.”

Keefe described his current positions as a juggling act. He works on the business side of things during the day for the Mavericks in sales and reaching out to corporate sponsors. During the fall season, he was spending five to six days at UMass-Lowell later in the day, driving the 40 minutes to their practices from Portsmouth.

Keefe was named Rockland’s manager in early December, piling on the extra duties with a smile. He’s looking forward to that challenge as well, and has found a comfort zone with independent league teams where he likes the idea of helping players either return to the major leagues or get there for the first time, as well as trying to put out a winning team. He was named CanAm Manager of the Year in 2011.

Something that has particularly piqued Keefe’s interest is the college game. Managing the Suns in 2012, he gained an affinity for the young players that is drawing him to the college level.

“They’re hungry,” he said. “They want to learn so much. So many of these kids are playing at great D-I, D-II or D-III baseball schools. They just want to get better. Guys I’ve had on the pro side, who have been in the circuit for a while, you try to break down their swings and it’s a little tougher. They’ve had success already and they’re used to hitting the way they hit.

“These younger guys at the college level are like sponges,” Keefe said. “They want to learn. They want to get better every single day, which is great. To go to Lowell was just a no-brainer.”

Keefe is hoping eventually to become a fulltime college coach. He needs to take care of his education, which he hopes to do at Lowell.

“If I get my bachelors (degree) that could open doors for a head job somewhere,” he said. “That would be good a couple years down the line. (Lowell) is fulltime once the season starts, but as far as right now, I’m able to do a couple different things.”

Keefe added he’s lucky enough to be able to manage on the pro side in the summer to supplement his income.

There will be some overlap with Lowell and the Boulders in May (a week or so) and Keefe laughs when he recalls what Lowell head coach and friend Ken Herring said when Keefe took the job: “You know what’s going to happen? We’re going to go to the World Series.”

Keefe is excited about the prospect of working with younger players, especially the opportunity to do so for three or four years.

“I’ve never experienced that before,” he said. “To get two, three or four years with one player, especially if I can get them at 18 years old.”

Keefe said there is even a chance after his kids have grown up that he may get back into major league baseball after coaching college ball.

“I need more,” he said. “It’s either step into affiliated ball and work for a major league organization or get my education and work at the college level for as long as I want and when the kids grow up make some other decisions for myself. I feel like someday if that’s the way I want to go next, I could (open) the door.”

Keefe smiles, adding, “The game has come full circle for me. I left 21 years ago. I graduated on a Sunday and flew out Monday morning to start a professional career. Here we are 21 years later and I’m looking at the college game with a different set of eyes now.”

At life, too.

Mike Whaley is the Sports Editor for Foster’s Daily Democrat and the Rochester Times. He can be reached at mwhaley@fosters.com.